Chapter 21

On the 18th of December, they came to a stream, about twenty-five yards in width, which they erroneously supposed to be a branch of the Red river. Its current flowed with great rapidity, and its bed was full of rocks. On ascending this river, to examine its source, it was found to run close to the mountains, in a narrow and rocky channel; and to have its banks bordered with pine-trees, cedar, and other kinds of timber. The whole party suffered extremely from cold; their clothing being frozen stiff, and their limbs considerably benumbed.

Their situation, on Christmas-day, was not very enviable. All the food they possessed, was buffalo-flesh, without salt. Before this time, they had been accustomed to some degree of comfort, and had experienced even some enjoyments: but now, at the most inclement season of the year, and eight hundred miles distant from the frontiers of the United States, not one person was properly clad for the winter; many were even without blankets, having cut them up for socks and other articles; and all were obliged to lie down at night, upon the snow or wet ground, one side burning and the other frozen. For shoes and clothing they were obliged to adopt a miserable substitute in raw buffalo hides.

In their further progress, they suffered excessive hardships for several days. Food became so scarce, that they were obliged to separate into eight different parties, in order to procure subsistence. The roads were so mountainous, stony, and slippery, that it was with the greatest difficulty the horses could be prevented from stumbling; and many of them fell. In one instance, the whole party were four days without food; and some of them had their feet frozen. At length, they were obliged to leave the horses; and each man had to carry a heavy load, and, at the same time, to march through snow two feet and half deep. Several of the men, unable to keep pace with the rest, were left behind.

On the 27th of January, Mr. Pike observed, at a distance, a large river, which he imagined to be the Red river; and, on the 30th, he reached its banks. This, afterwards, proved to be the _Rio del Norte_. They proceeded along its banks, for about eighteen miles; and, at length, came to a spot, where they established a temporary residence, whilst they sent men to assist, and collect together the unfortunate stragglers who had been left in the rear.

The region they had traversed betwixt the Arkansaw and the Rio del Norte, was covered with mountains and small prairies. From the Missouri to the head of the Osage river, a distance of about three hundred miles, Mr. Pike says that the country will admit of a numerous, extensive, and compact population. From the Osage to the rivers Kanzes, La Platte, and Arkansaw, the country could sustain only a limited population; but the inhabitants might, with advantage, rear cattle, horses, sheep, and goats.

On the 16th of February, whilst Mr. Pike and one of his men were hunting, in the vicinity of their residence, they observed, at a distance, two horsemen, armed with lances. They proved to be a Spanish dragoon and an Indian, who had been sent from Santa Fe, a town of New Spain, about four days before. On the 17th, some of the stragglers arrived: several of them had lost the joints of their toes, by the intensity of the frost, and were rendered cripples for life.

The Spanish dragoon and Indian had returned to Santa Fe; and the report which they made of the appearance of the strangers, induced the governor to send out fifty dragoons, and fifty mounted militia, for the purpose of ascertaining their state and numbers. In an interview which took place with the commanders of these troops, Mr. Pike learnt that the river, on the bank of which he had encamped, was the Rio del Norte, and not the Red river, as he had imagined. The officers stated to him that a hundred mules and horses had been sent to convey him, his men, and baggage, to Santa Fe; and that the governor was anxious to see them in that town, to receive an explanation respecting their business on his frontiers.

Mr. Pike and some of his men accompanied the officers to Santa Fe, while others were left behind, to wait the arrival of those who had not yet come up.

In their progress, they were treated, in all the villages, with the utmost hospitality. On their march, they were frequently stopped by women, who invited them into their houses to eat; and, in every place where they halted, there was a contest who should be their hosts. Those that had suffered by having their limbs frozen, were conducted home by old men, who caused their daughters to dress the sores, and to provide for them victuals and drink; and, at night, they gave them the best bed in the house.

In the evening of the 3d of March, Mr. Pike reached _Santa Fe_. This city, the capital of New Mexico, is situated along the banks of a small creek, which issues from the mountains, and runs westward to the Rio del Norte. It is about a mile in length, and not more than three streets in width. The houses are, generally, only one story high, and have flat roofs. There are, in Santa Fe, two churches, the magnificence of whose steeples forms an extraordinary contrast to the miserable appearance of the other buildings. On the north side of the town is a square, constructed for soldiers' houses, each flank of which contains from a hundred and twenty to a hundred and forty. The public square is in the centre of the town. On one side of it is the palace or government-house, with the quarters for the guards; and the other sides are occupied by the houses of the clergy, and public officers. Most of the houses have sheds before them, which occasion the streets to be very narrow. The number of inhabitants in Santa Fe, is supposed to be about four thousand five hundred.

On Mr. Pike and his men entering this town, the crowd assembled to view them was excessively great: and, indeed, their extremely miserable appearance seems to have excited much curiosity. This may easily be accounted for. After they had left the Arkansaw, they had been obliged to carry all their baggage on their backs; and, consequently, the useful were preferred to the ornamental articles. The ammunition, tools, leather-leggings, boots, and moccasins, had been considered absolutely requisite. They had left behind their uniform clothing; and, when they entered Santa Fe, Mr. Pike was dressed in a pair of blue trowsers, moccasins, a blanket-coat, and a red cap. His men had leggings, cloths round their waists, and leather coats: there was not a hat among the whole party. This appearance was extremely mortifying to them all, especially as soldiers; and it made no very favourable impression on the people of Santa Fe. They were asked, by many of the common people, whether they had lived in houses, or in camps, like the Indians; or whether, in their country, the people wore hats.

They were conducted to the government-house, where they dismounted. On entering it they were conducted through various rooms, the floors of all which were covered with the skins of buffaloes, bears, or other animals. Here they underwent an examination, by the governor, respecting their objects and number. The conference terminated amicably; but the governor informed Mr. Pike that he must be conducted to Chihuahua, a town in the province of New Biscay, and upwards of three hundred leagues distant.

Nineteenth Day's Instruction.

MEXICO OR NEW SPAIN.

The Spanish possessions in North America, extend from the isthmus of Darien, along the coast of the Pacific Ocean, to the distance of more than two thousand two hundred miles. One half of them is situated under the burning sky of the tropics, and the other belongs to the temperate zone. Their whole interior forms an immense plain, elevated from six to eight thousand feet above the level of the adjacent seas. The chain of _mountains_ which constitutes this vast plain, is a continuation of that which, under the name Andes, runs through South America. They are, in general, little interrupted by valleys, and, for the most part, their declivity is very gentle. In consequence of this elevation, the Mexican provinces, situated under the torrid zone, enjoy a cold rather than a temperate _climate_. The interior provinces, in the temperate zone, have, like the rest of North America, a climate essentially different from that of the same parallels in the European continent. A remarkable inequality prevails between the temperature of the different seasons: German winters succeed to Neapolitan and Sicilian summers.

This country suffers many inconveniences from a want of water, and particularly of navigable rivers. The Rio del Norte and the Rio Colorado are almost the only _rivers_ of any importance. The _lakes_ with which Mexico abounds, are merely the remains of immense basins of water, which appear to have formerly existed on the high and extensive plains of the Cordilleras. The largest of these, the _Lake of Chapala_, contains nearly one hundred and sixty square leagues, and is about twice as large as the lake of Constance.

A great portion of high land, in the interior of New Spain, is destitute of vegetation; and some of the loftiest summits are clad with perpetual snow. This country is not so much disturbed by earthquakes as several parts of South America; for, in the whole of New Spain there are only five _volcanos_; Orizaba, Popocatepetl, Tuxtla, Jorullo, and Colima.

The _volcano of Jorullo_, in the province of Valladolid, was formed during the night of the 29th of September, 1759. The great catastrophe, in which this mountain rose from the earth, and by which a considerable space of ground changed its appearance, is, perhaps, one of the most extraordinary physical revolutions in the history of the earth. Geology points out parts of the ocean, where, at recent periods, near the Azores, in the Egean Sea, and to the south of Iceland, small volcanic islands have arisen above the surface of the water; but it gives no example of the formation, amidst a thousand small burning cones, of a mountain of scoria, near seventeen hundred feet in height, above the adjoining plain. Till the middle of the year 1759, fields cultivated with sugar-canes and indigo occupied the extent of ground between the two brooks called Cultamba and San Pedro. In the month of June, a subterraneous noise was heard. Hollow sounds of most alarming description, were accompanied by frequent earthquakes, which succeeded one another for fifty or sixty days, to the great consternation of the inhabitants. From the beginning of September every thing seemed to announce the complete re-establishment of tranquillity; when, in the night between the 28th and 29th, the subterraneous noises recommenced. The affrighted Indians fled to the mountains; and a tract of ground, from three to four square miles in extent, which goes by the name of _Malpays_, rose up in the shape of a bladder. The bounds of this convulsion are still distinguishable in the fractured strata. The Malpays, near its edges, is only about forty feet above the old level of the plain; but the convexity of the ground thus thrown up, increases progressively, towards the centre, to an elevation of more than five hundred and twenty feet.

The persons who witnessed this astonishing catastrophe, assert that flames were seen to issue forth, for an extent of more than half a square league; that fragments of burning rocks were thrown up to prodigious heights; and that, through a thick cloud of ashes, illumined by the volcanic fire, the softened surface of the earth was seen to swell up like an agitated sea. The rivers of Cultamba and San Pedro precipitated themselves into the burning chasms. The decomposition of the water contributed to invigorate the flames, which were distinguishable at a vast distance. Eruptions of mud, and other substances, indicated that subterraneous water had no small share in producing this extraordinary revolution. Thousands of small cones, from six to nine feet in height, called by the Indians "hornitos," or ovens, issued forth from the Malpays. Each small cone is a "fumorola," from which a thick vapour ascends; and in many of them a subterraneous noise is heard, which appears to announce the proximity of a fluid in ebullition. In the midst of the ovens six large masses, elevated from one thousand three hundred to one thousand six hundred and forty feet above the old level of the plains, sprung up from a chasm. The most elevated of these is the great volcano of Jorullo. It is continually burning, and has thrown up an immense quantity of scorified and basaltic lavas, containing fragments of primitive rocks. These great eruptions of the central volcano continued till the month of February, 1760. In the following year they became gradually less frequent. The Indians, frightened at the horrible noises of the new volcano, had abandoned all the villages, within seven or eight leagues of it. They, however, gradually became accustomed to them, and returned to their cottages. So violent were the eruptions of this mountain, that the roofs of houses in Queretaro, though at a distance of more than forty-eight leagues, in a straight line from the scene of explosion, were sometimes covered with ashes.

The Mexican _population_ consists of seven races, 1. Individuals born in Europe; 2. Creoles, or Whites of European extraction, born in America; 3. Mesti zos, or descendants of whites and Indians; 4. Mulattoes, descendants of whites and negroes; 5. Zambos, descendants of negroes and Indians; 6. Indians, or the copper-coloured indigenous race; and, 7. African negroes.

The number of _Indians_, including those only who have no mixture of European or African blood, are more than two millions and a half in number; and these appear to constitute about two-fifths of the whole population of Mexico. They bear a general resemblance to the Indians of Canada, Florida, Peru, and Brazil: they have a similar swarthy and copper-coloured skin, smooth hair, little beard, squat body, long eyes, with the corners directed upward towards the temples, prominent cheek bones, and thick lips. There is a great diversity in their language, but they appear to have been all descendants from the same original stock.

It is probable that these Indians would live to a great age, did they not often injure their constitution by drunkenness. Their intoxicating liquors are rum, a fermentation of maize, and the root of the jatropha; and especially a wine which is made from the juice of the great American aloe. The police, in the city of Mexico, sends round tumbrils, to collect such drunkards as are found lying in the streets. These are treated like dead bodies, and are carried to the principal guard-house. The next morning an iron ring is put round each of their ancles, and, as a punishment, they are made to cleanse the streets for three days.

The Mexican Indian, when not under the influence of intoxicating liquors, is grave, melancholic, and silent. The most violent passions are never depicted in his features; and it is sometimes frightful to see him pass, at once, from a state of apparent repose, to the most violent and unrestrained agitation. It is stated that these Indians have preserved, from their ancestors, a particular relish for carving in wood and stone; and that it is astonishing to see what they are able to execute with a bad knife, on the hardest wood. Many Indian children, educated in the college of the capital, or instructed at the academy of painting, founded by the king of Spain, have considerably distinguished themselves, but without leaving the beaten track pursued by their forefathers; they chiefly display great aptitude in the arts of imitation; and in the purely mechanical arts.

The _Spanish inhabitants_ and the _Creoles_ are noted for hospitality, generosity, and sobriety; but they are extremely deficient in energy, patriotism, enterprise, and independence of character. The women have black eyes and hair, and fine teeth: they are of dark colour, full habit of body, and have, in general, bad figures. They usually wear short jackets and petticoats, high-heeled shoes, and no head-dress. As an upper garment they have a silk wrapper, which, when they are in the presence of men, they affect to bring over their faces. In the towns on the frontiers and adjacent to the sea-coast, many of the ladies wear gowns, like those of our country-women. The lower classes of men are generally dressed in broad-brimmed hats, short coats, large waistcoats, smallclothes open at the knees, and a kind of boot or leather wrapper bound round the leg, and gartered at the knee. The spurs of the gentlemen are clumsy: they are ornamented with raised work; and the straps are embroidered with gold and silver thread. The Spanish Americans are always ready to mount their horses; and the inhabitants of the interior provinces pass nearly half their day on horseback. In the towns, and among the higher ranks, the men dress in the European style.

The _amusements_ of this people are music, singing, dancing, and gambling: the latter is, indeed, officially prohibited; but the prohibition is not much attended to. At every large town there is a public walk, where the ladies and gentlemen meet and sing songs. The females have fine voices, and sing French, Italian, and Spanish music, the whole company joining in chorus. In their houses the ladies play on the guitar, and accompany this instrument with their voices. They either sit on the carpet cross-legged, or loll on a sofa: to sit upright, on a chair, appears to put them to great inconvenience.

Both in _eating_ and _drinking_ the Spanish Americans are remarkably temperate. Early in the morning those of the higher class have chocolate. At twelve they dine on meat, fowls, and fish; after which different kinds of confectionary are placed on the table; they drink a few glasses of wine, sing a few songs, and then retire to take their _siesta_ or afternoon nap. The latter is a practice common both to rich and poor: the consequence of it is that, about two o'clock, every day, the windows and doors of the town are all closed, the streets are deserted, and the stillness of midnight reigns throughout. At four they rise, wash and dress, and prepare for the dissipation of the evening. About eleven o'clock refreshments are offered; but few take any thing except a little wine and water and candied sugar.

The _commerce_ of New Spain, with Europe and the United States, is carried on through the port of Vera Cruz only; and with the East Indies and South America, through that of Acapulco. But all the commercial transactions, and all the productions and manufactures, are subjected to such severe restrictions, that they are at present of little importance to the prosperity of the country. Were the various bays and harbours of Mexico and California to be opened to the trade of the world; and were correct regulations to be adopted, New Spain might become both wealthy and powerful. Many parts of the country abound in iron ore, yet iron and steel articles, of every description, are brought from Europe; for the manufacturing or working of iron is here strictly prohibited. This occasions the requisite utensils of husbandry, arms, and tools, to be enormously dear; and forms a great check to the progress of agriculture, and to improvements in manufactures.

The _ancient Mexicans_ preserved the memory of events by figures painted on skins, cloth, or the bark of trees. These hieroglyphical and symbolical characters, being considered by the ignorant and bigoted Spaniards to be monuments of idolatry, the first bishop of Mexico destroyed as many of them as could be collected. In consequence of this barbarous procedure, the knowledge of remote events was lost, except what could be derived from tradition, and from some fragments of those paintings which eluded the search of the monks.

With regard to the _public edifices_ of the Mexicans: their temples were merely mounds of earth faced with stone; and it is probable that their other public buildings were equally rude. The ancient natives bestowed little attention on agriculture, and were strangers to the use of money; but their ornaments of gold and silver indicated considerable ingenuity. They were acquainted with the manufacture of paper, of coarse cotton-cloth, glass, and earthenware; and they possessed the arts of casting metals, of making mosaic work with shells and feathers, of spinning and weaving the hair of animals, and of dying with indelible colours.

The _religion_ of the ancient Mexicans, like that of all unenlightened nations, seems to have been founded chiefly on fear; and consisted of a system of gloomy rites and practices, the object of which was to avert the evils that they suffered or dreaded. They had some notion of an invisible supreme Being; but their chief anxiety was to deprecate the wrath of certain imaginary malignant spirits, whom they regarded as the enemies of mankind. They worshipped idols, formed of wood and stone; and decorated their temples with the figures of serpents, tigers, and other destructive animals. They believed in the immortality of the soul; but their notions of a future state may be collected from their funeral rites: the bodies, or the ashes of the deceased, were generally buried with whatever was judged necessary for their accommodation or comfort in the other world, where it was believed they would experience the same desires, and be engaged in the same occupations, as in this. The religion established by the Spaniards is the Roman Catholic; and it is computed that one-fifth part of the Spanish inhabitants are ecclesiastics, monks, and nuns.

The _Spanish government_ in America is vested in officers called viceroys, who represent the person of their sovereign; and who possess his royal prerogatives, within the precincts of their own territories. In its present state, New Spain is divided into twelve intendancies, and three districts, which are called provinces[2].

FOOTNOTES:

[2] For particulars respecting the conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards, see "Biographical Conversations on Eminent Voyagers," p. 59 to 73.

Twentieth Day's Instruction.

MEXICO CONTINUED.

_Narrative of Mr. PIKE'S Journey from Santa Fe to Montelovez._

Mr. Pike and his men were escorted from Santa Fe by a Spanish officer, and a troop of soldiers. On Thursday, the 5th of March, they arrived at a village called _St. Domingo_. The inhabitants of this place were about a thousand in number; and the chiefs were distinguished by canes, with silver heads and black tassels. Mr. Pike was permitted to visit the church; and he was much astonished to find, enclosed in mud-brick walls, many rich paintings, and a statue of the patron saint, as large as life, and elegantly ornamented with gold and silver.

On the ensuing day, the party marched down the eastern side of the Rio del Norte, the snow being still a foot deep. Near the village of _Albuquerque_, they observed that the inhabitants were beginning to open the canals, for the purpose of letting in the water of the river, to fertilize the lands. They saw men, women, and children engaged in the joyful labour, which was to crown, with rich abundance, their future harvest, and to ensure them plenty for the ensuing year. A little below Albuquerque, the Rio del Norte was four hundred yards wide, but not more than three feet deep.

In their journey southward, they passed through several villages. One of these, called _Sibilleta_, was in the form of a regular square, appearing, on the outside, like an immense mud-wall. All the doors and windows faced the interior of the square; and it was the neatest and most regular village Mr. Pike had ever seen.